[Shugart23]

I've been pretty comfortable opening 1NT with 10-13 in 1st or 2nd seat, regardless of colors and 13-15 red in 3rd (or 4th) seat. I also thought there was a 4-pount spread allowed in ACBL until recently where apparently one can have a 5 -point spread...eg. 11-15 which is pretty wide. I have observed that when we are 'forced' to open 1D with a NT shape because the point count isn't there, the opponent's ability to compete is much easier and hence overall results aren't as good as when we open 1NT directly. This led us to experimenting widening the range of our NT opening to 10-14 except red in 3rd or 4th where we used 11-15. And sure enough, we have less 1D openings with the wider range, but the wider 1NT range has its own issues.

I am curious to hear, from those that play or have a lot of experience playing weak No Trump what ranges they use in what seats and colors. Would anyone care to respond? Thank you

[DavidKok]

I've played 9-12, 9-13, 9-16*, 10-13, 10-15*, 11-14, 12-14 and 13-15, at varying seats and vulnerabilities. I'm probably forgetting a few too. Mind you, some of these are not legal under ACBL regulations, so make sure you inform yourself of the local rules.

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but I think you are taking the long route to finding out the biggest system weakness of Precision in the Nebulous Diamond. There are plenty of strengths too, but this is a weakness, and shifting NT ladder is in my opinion not improving the position.

*These only in third.

[Shugart23]

DavidKok, on 2026-April-30, 11:45, said:

I've played 9-12, 9-13, 9-16*, 10-13, 10-15*, 11-14, 12-14 and 13-15, at varying seats and vulnerabilities. I'm probably forgetting a few too. Mind you, some of these are not legal under ACBL regulations, so make sure you inform yourself of the local rules.

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but I think you are taking the long route to finding out the biggest system weakness of Precision in the Nebulous Diamond. There are plenty of strengths too, but this is a weakness, and shifting NT ladder is in my opinion not improving the position.

*These only in third.

Yes, You can bring a horse to water but cant get him to drink it sometimes. Our 1D isn't going to be all that nebulous. It will either be 6+ cards in a minor OR a NT shape hand that could not be opened 1NT. So given those constraints ( And ACBL says must be minimum 10 HCP, maximum range 5), would you, or anyone, have a suggestion for our 1NT opening range(s)?

[awm]

My observation with very weak notrumps at vulnerable is that you often end up with -200, which is a disaster at MP (but typically only a small loss at IMPs). This is much more common than actually getting doubled for a number (which occasionally happens but often isn't great at NV either).

Recently I've been using 14-16 (1st/2nd) and 15-17 (3rd/4th) and have been pretty happy with those ranges. I'm sure it'd be okay to swap 1♦ and 1NT at NV, but personally I don't like the bad results you sometimes get on the strong notrump hands from this (easier for opponents to get in, wrong-side some contracts, a bit annoying in competition when you have the strong notrump) and I'm not convinced the occasional wins from the weak 1NT "preempt" are worth enough to counteract it. It's also a bit more to remember, especially if you want to play a different response structure to the weak notrump than the strong one.